While classes were going on this week we helped our great friend Jeff. His "friends" flew back to Улаанбаатар (Ulaanbaatar) after хоёр (2) hard Долоо Хоног (weeks) of "helping" in the countryside with his house. Tuesday Teresa walked home with 5.5kg of Үхрийн Мах (beef) & was so tired because in her other hand she had the great 4.5kg stainless steel meat grinder. i ground all 5.5kg while Teresa finished making the homemade chili for Jeff & all his "friends." Teresa & I laughed so hard while Jeff was kind of embarrassed at first. We made about 10L of chili & rice & a large salad for them. They ate all of it in about 15 minutes & two loaves of bread with American peanut butter & Mongolian strawberry jam in another 15 minutes. We were "so happy" that they ate everything & we understood why they ate so much. After eating goat, horse & camel for 2 weeks anything that taste what you are used to (like home) is amazing.
Jeff stayed at our place for a for a couple of days until his friends returned to the US. We all were able to spend the evenings with them & eat a couple more meals. Jeff's friends were great & it was great to hear about their lives & get to know them. It was also great to have Jeff with us to foster our friendship & to hear about his family, life & work. It was so exciting for Teresa, the kids & I to open our home to these people & to Jeff.
Who we are is, "our home is your home." If there is anything we can do to make you (everyone) feel at home, warm & loved while you are with us then we have succeeded in what we have been called to. There are many passages that come to mind, but I cannot share them.
The kids are enjoying their summer playing outside & meeting new friends. Teresa & I are so happy when we go for walks as a family & all the Mongolian kids (boys & girls) playing in front of our building call Kiel & Esme by name & ask if they want to play together. They are really starting to settle in & like playing with their new friends. Baseball is going well for Kiel & he likes it more & more. Esme really likes playing in the large sand boxes in the apt. yard making houses, yards & flower gardens for people. Kiel likes to play badminton with us while esme is in the sandboxes building. Kiel is so athletically inclined when he puts his mind to it. Esme is so creative. She still likes to colour & make things with her hands. It is so great to see the differences in them & how well they play together.
We also had a flash flood thunder storm Тавдахь Өлөр (Friday) afternoon. Teresa & a найз (friend) were out ноол (food) shopping & had to walk in knee high water on the streets. I have never seem so much water falling before in my life. here is a picture.
You can pray for Teresa's schedule change. Pray that she would be able to learn Mongolian & balance the other things living here in Mongolia. Things take much longer to do here than at home.
Thank-you all for your prayers.